Ali Ibn Abi Talib - Volume 2 of 2

24 The Battles of the Camel and Siffeen, and the issue ofarbitration
brotherhood between a believer and a disbeliever, because Islam is
the bond tbat unites its followers. It also indicates that the command
to reconcile is only issued because there is brotherhood in Islam and
not among the disbelievers. If a disbeliever is a dhimmi or a person
living under Muslim protection, then it is obligatory to take care of
him, protect him and relieve him of oppression, just as it is obligatory
to help the Muslim and support him in general if his opponent is a
non-Muslim in a state of war against the ~uslims.'~
Ibn al-'Arabi said: "This verse is the main guideline when
fighting Muslims who base their reasons for fighting on
misinterpretations. It was a reference point for the Companions on
this issue, and the Prophet (g) referred to it when he said: ' 'Amm2r
(ibn Y2sir) will be killed by the group that is in the wrong,' meaning
that fighting the group that is in the wrong is a communal obligation;
if some of the Muslims undertake to do that, the obligation is waived
from the rest. Hence some of the Companions (may Allah be pleased
with them) stayed away from this matter, such as Sa'd ibn Abi
Waqqi~, Abdullah ibn 'Umar, Muhammad ibn Maslamah and others.
Each of them gave his apologies, and Amir al-Mu'mineen 'Ali (&)
accepted that from them."15 There are many rulings that we will
discuss when we look at the various events that took place among the
Companions.
This system, of arbitration and fighting the group tbat is in the
wrong until it complies with the command of Allah (s), is regarded
as a pioneering system that came before other human attempts at
setting up systems of that nature; it is perfect and free from the flaws
and defects that are apparent in all imperfect and feeble human
attempts. Moreover, it has the attributes of being clean, honest, just
and universal, because referring to that system is like referring to
something that is not affected by any ulterior motives or whims and
desires, and is not affected by any shortcomings or defects.16 The